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Oftentimes, would-be entrepreneurs have great ideas for potential businesses but become paralyzed and easily discouraged when it comes to actual planning and implementation. Entrepreneur.com.ph asked U.S. certified life coach Andrea Goseco for tips on how entrepreneurs can overcome mental roadblocks commonly associated with launching and maintaining a business.

Q: How do you recover from giving your best and still fall short?
A: The key to recovering from an adversity is learning to be resilient. The greatest strength of successful businessmen is their ability to bounce back from setbacks.  According to psychologists, resilience “improves your ability to assess risks and plan for potential problems.”  People who are not able to face their problems feel helpless.  Resilience is a secret weapon that you can use to help you achieve your goals.

Here are important tips that will help you be more resilient:

1. There are circumstances that you can’t control.  

An example is when you set sales targets for your business but you were not able to achieve it. When you analyze the situation, there may be several factors that resulted in low sales.  What you need to do is to focus on what you can control.  The solution is to have a positive mindset when you are trying to solve a problem.  Thinking that you will find solutions will make you find ways on how to improve the business.  When you say that you can’t solve a problem, you will remain stuck and make decisions out of panic or fear.

2. Learn from the challenges you encounter in your business.  

It’s easy to always focus on what went wrong and dwell on the situation.  What you need to do is to think about what you can learn from each problem. These insights will prepare you for similar challenges in the future.  Winston Churchill said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

3. Learn to forgive yourself whenever you make mistakes. 

It will be easier to let go of the negative feelings when you have accepted the situation.  The founder of Positive Psychology, Martin Seligman, says that forgiveness can increase our overall well-being.  You need to forgive yourself to be able to move forward.

4. Put things in perspective. 

If you blow things out of proportion, you get anxious about the future. The key is to know your beliefs to be able to assess a situation well.   You may have beliefs that prevent you from seeing the complete picture.  What are these beliefs that you have to remove from your life?

5. Embrace change. 

There will always be a Plan B when Plan A does not work.  You have to make yourself ready to accept a change in plan.  It should be seen as a challenge to find more creative solutions to your problems.   You have to put in your mind that change is a part of life.

Resilience is a behavior that you have to practice whenever you encounter challenges in your life.  It may be difficult in the beginning because you’re used to reacting to situations in another way.  Take a look at the way you handle adversities at work.  What do you need to do differently to be able to manage setbacks in your life? 

Andrea Goseco is U.S. trained life and executive coach. You may reach her at coachanda@yahoo.com and through her web site www.liveyourlifenow.co. Have a question for Coach Andrea? To email us your question for this section click here.